What About Extracurriculars This Year?
What do you do when you can’t play football? Or star in your school musical? Or compete for the debate team?
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot for high school students. Many extracurricular activities have been limited, changed, or even cancelled completely.
Extracurricular activities offer many benefits to students, including exercise, entertainment, and college application material. What can you do when extracurricular activities aren’t working as usual? The big goals are to stay healthy, stay content, and prepare for next year.
Do what you can. If the soccer games have been cancelled for the year, but practices are still happening, stick with it. If you can’t hold a school play, but can still have a virtual monologue competition, stick with it. Not only is it helpful for staying busy, healthy, and connected, it will also set you up for next year. Your coach will remember who continued to work hard. The new skills you learn will come in handy for tryouts next year.
Find an alternative. If track practice has been cancelled for the foreseeable future, go for runs in your neighborhood. Give parkour a try (safely, please). Find an activity that will help you develop the skills you need for the next year, like learning a new digital animation technique or doing a body weight strength routine.
Make it a learning experience. There are so many ways to turn your newfound “down time” into an advantage. You can study your hobby from home to build skills or even just to show commitment for your college applications. How? Try:
Learning about the history of your sport or activity
Reading about strategies and skills
Learning how your sport or activity connects to what you’re learning in school, such as the physics of football
What ways have you found to develop skills and prepare for next year? Comment below or email robinsatty@stemsmartconsulting.com.